UCLA Bruins Fall to Utah 43-10 in Sparsely Attended Rose Bowl Season Opener

The UCLA football team fell to Utah in its home opener in front of 35,032 at the Rose Bowl on Saturday night.

Redshirt sophomore Nico Iamaleava started to find his footing in his debut with the Bruins (0-1). The quarterback wrapped the night completing 11 of 22 pass attempts for 136 passing yards and one touchdown. The Long Beach, Calif. native also led UCLA’s rushing efforts with 47 yards on the ground in 13 attempts.

Redshirt junior Anthony Woods was the Bruin quarterback’s top target, finishing with 48 receiving yards and UCLA’s lone touchdown. The running back added 13 yards on three rushes for the evening.

The Bruins totaled 210 yards of offense against Utah (1-0), as the Utes finished the contest with 492 total yards (286 rushing, 206 passing) and scored on seven drives.

Redshirt sophomore Isaiah Chisom anchored the Bruin defense with a team-leading 17 tackles. Redshirt sophomore JonJon Vaughns added 15 tackles, including a team-best six solo tackles.

On the opening series of the game, the Bruins allowed the Utes to drive down field in 11 plays (75 yards over 4:11) for the first score of Saturday’s matchup. Utah missed the extra-point attempt and continued to expand upon an early 6-0 cushion.

In the Bruins’ first offensive series of the season, UCLA ran up the middle on a fourth-and-one situation to secure the first down in Utah territory. The Bruins were unable to connect on their next fourth down attempt, giving up possession on the Utah 40-yard line. The Utes capitalized on the midfield starting point, scoring 10 plays later on an eight-yard rush.

Junior defensive back Scooter Jackson punched the ball out to force a fumble on the next defensive drive, but the Utes recovered and found the end zone a few plays later to balloon Utah’s lead to 20 points, just two minutes into the second quarter.

Iamaleava and the Bruins started to link things together on the third drive of the night, opening the second quarter with an 11-yard pass for first down. UCLA converted its first third down of the evening on the drive. Woods scored UCLA’s first touchdown on a 19-yard reception down the right side of the field. He accounted for 27 of UCLA’s 75 yards in that scoring drive.

The tide began to turn for UCLA’s defense as Utah’s Smith Snowden muffed the kickoff following the Bruin score. Despite a pass interference penalty, the Bruins dug in and stopped the Utes from converting a third down for the first time in seven attempts. Utah punted on fourth down.

On the next drive, Woods trucked his way through a Ute defender for a 16-yard gain on third down after catching a ball up the middle from Iamaleava. The Bruin quarterback scrambled twice on the next set of downs before the Bruins were forced to punt. Ute kicker Dillon Curtis made a 54-yard field goal for Utah as time expired in the first half.

UCLA trailed 23-7 at the break.

Iamaleava and the Bruins began the second half with three-consecutive plays that went for double-digit yards; the quarterback completed a 14-yard pass to sophomore Kwazi Gilmer before finding his own lane up the sideline for a 16-yard rush. Gilmer caught a pair of passes to help set up a UCLA field goal; the wide out snagged a ball for 11 yards before a six-yard gain to put the Bruins on the Utah 34. Junior Mateen Bhaghani kicked through a 46-yard field goal to cut Utah’s margin to 23-10 with under 13 minutes to play in the third quarter.

Utah used a 20-play drive over 9:44 to score a touchdown and secure a 30-10 cushion late in the third quarter. The Utes scored two more touchdowns before the final horn sounded, with one score resulting from a Bruins’ turnover that gave the Utes the ball on the line of scrimmage within 30 yards of the end zone.

UP NEXT – UCLA at UNLV (Sept. 6)

The Bruins head to Las Vegas next week to face UNLV at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 6. UCLA’s game against UNLV will begin at 5 p.m. (PT) in Las Vegas. The non-confernce showdown will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.